US weighs 7,000 more troops for Afghan war: NYT
The Pentagon is considering sending up to 7,000 more US troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The increase would likely result in "the re-Americanization" of the war, one US official said, according to the Times. US forces would then account for two-thirds of foreign troops in Afghanistan, it said.
The report appeared a day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States could consider taking over NATO's command in southern Afghanistan, where some NATO allies have been reluctant to provide combat forces.
Southern Afghanistan, site of the worst in a surge of Taliban violence, is now under NATO command. Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia all have forces in the region.
Citing unnamed Bush administration officials, the Times said sending up to 7,000 additional troops would increase US forces in Afghanistan to some 40,000, the highest level since the United States invaded the country in 2001 and toppled the Taliban government after the Sept 11 attacks.
The increase would require a reduction in troop levels in Iraq by at least a modest amount, and planning for it began in recent weeks, the newspaper said.
"There are simply going to be more American forces than we've ever had there," the Times quoted a senior official as saying.
The officials said the decision for more troops could be left to the next US president, who will take office in January, and that few additional troops were expected in Afghanistan any time soon.
Agencies
(China Daily 05/05/2008 page6)
